


Concierge Doctor

by beautifulspinster



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bucky Barnes Recovering, Clint Barton & Natasha Romanov Friendship, F/M, Male-Female Friendship, Night Terrors, POV Female Character, Protective Steve Rogers, Reader-Insert, Slow Build, Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-01
Updated: 2017-12-01
Packaged: 2019-02-09 08:17:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12883782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beautifulspinster/pseuds/beautifulspinster
Summary: I’d be lying if I said I took this job solely for my career. Sure, I was doing what I was trained to, but there were dozens of other places I could do that, places that would allow me to do research, be published, move on to hospital administration. But here the pay was astronomical and I’d be making connections with plenty of high profile and powerful people that would give me job security for the rest of my life. I told myself that’s why I accepted the job. It was the smartest move for my career.But that’s not why I signed the contract. No, the real reason I work for Tony Stark is because of his association with one James Buchanan Barnes.





	1. Chapter 1

THURSDAY AUGUST 31

I’d been a practicing physician for approximately 5 minutes when I was approached by a man in a dark suit and an earpiece asking if I was interested in a ‘highly lucrative career opportunity.’ There I was, sitting in my office during my lunch break on a random Thursday afternoon, looking at the medical records of a sweet 84-year-old lady who had an appointment with me about her diabetes medications. Not exactly on the cutting edge of medical innovation.

“Highly lucrative, huh?” I asked him, “What are you, secret service?” He did not confirm or deny. I thought for sure this was an elaborate practical joke put on by my med school buddies as a jab for graduating early. I rolled my eyes and followed along, assuming all of this would play out over lunch and I’d be back in time to see Ms. Pierce. I allowed myself to be shuffled into a dark SUV, sandwiched between two more men in suits. “So, uh, where are we headed, guys?” I remember asking.

“You’ll see soon enough,” the driver said, “Our employer will explain everything when we arrive.”

“Arrive where, though?” No response.

I tried to make small talk with the suits and pry some information out of them, but they ignored me. When we got on the interstate and headed to the edge of town, I realized I must have been mistaken about the joke and began to panic. Based on the route we were taking, it seemed we were headed to the airport. Who were these people? And why had I gone with them so willingly? My mother would be so mad at me.

The vehicle exited the freeway and sure enough, the airport was our destination. I was wracking my brain for some way out of this situation, but was drawing a blank. I was encouraged, though, that none of the men had done anything to hurt me so far. I promised myself that if they made any sort of attempt to change that, I wasn’t going down without a fight. Or maybe a flight.

We came to a stop outside a private airplane hangar. The driver and the two suits in the backseat on either side of me opened their doors and removed themselves. The one on my left stood expectantly beside the door, waiting for me to step out. “Uh-uh. I’m not getting out of this car or into any plane with you,” I told him, “I’ve seen too many movies. I know how this ends.” He lifted his arm and I braced myself, ready to resist if he tried to make a move to grab me, but instead he simply spoke into the device on his wrist, “Sir, we might have a problem here.” There was a pause as he was listening to the response of ‘Sir.’ “Ok, sir. Understood.” He then turned to me, “He will be with you shortly.” And with that he shut the door and left me in the SUV alone.

“Who?!” I shouted after him, to no avail. I waited about thirty seconds and then unbuckled my seat belt. “‘Be with me shortly,’” I scoffed, “Like hell I’m waiting around to find out.” I opened the door, adrenaline finally kicking in, ready to bolt out of the vehicle, “Excuse me! You can’t leave –”

“You can rest assured, Doctor, that no one was going to leave you there.” I was stunned speechless, hanging halfway out of the car door, looking directly at Tony IRONMAN Stark walking nonchalantly towards me. He didn’t wait for me to respond, simply holding out his hand to help me from the SUV. I took it, still totally at a loss for words, using all my concentration to focus on not falling onto the pavement below. “I assume no introduction is necessary,” he continued, “However, I do apologize for the secrecy and for not meeting you myself. I tend to draw a crowd, and I expect that would have been a distraction from your appointment with sweet elderly Ms. Pierce.”

At this I found my words. “Oh, shit, Ms. Pierce! I completely forgot. I have to go back –”

He waved his hand, “Already taken care of. She – and the rest of your patients – will now be seeing another physician.”

“What do you mean? How did you arrange that?”

“I’m Tony Stark,” he said with a shrug, and turned to walk back towards the hangar. “Come on now, Doctor. Hop to.”

“To where?” I asked, following him. “I have no idea what I’m doing here.” Not that wasn’t thrilled to meet Ironman, but overall, I was more than a little confused.

“I’ll explain on the flight. What I need to discuss with you is rather sensitive.” He looked down at his watch. “I already expected us to be in the air by now.”

“‘In the air’?! I can’t go anywhere. I have patients to see!”

“Yes ma’am, you do. Just not the ones waiting back at that office. I promise I will explain everything.” We had reached the inside of the hangar and my jaw dropped. A private jet was waiting and none other than Pepper Potts was at door at the top of the stairs. She smiled down at us, “Good afternoon, Doctor! Welcome to the team.”

“To the team?” I echoed. I had no idea what she was talking about.

Tony stopped at the stairs. “After you,” he said, motioning me towards the jet.

I paused, feeling no surer about what I was doing here. “I can’t go anywhere.”

“Sure, you can,” Tony replied with a grin, “You were doing so great from the car to this point. Just one foot in front of the other.”

I ignored his sarcasm. “No, I mean I’m not prepared to go anywhere. I don’t have anything packed.” I looked down at my empty hands as if to prove my point.

“Oh, that,” he said flippantly, “I took the liberty of sending some people to your apartment this morning to pack up your belongings. Including that heinous cat.” He seemed to shudder at the thought. “It’ll all be waiting for you when we arrive. Now up the stairs you go.”

I didn’t move. “What? You packed up my apartment? But I, I … Why?” Tony was clearly unused to such resistance, but he owed me some answers.

“So we could move it to New York,” he said slowly, as if he were explaining something obvious. “Your new home will be at Avengers Tower. Just a small place, you may have heard of it.”

At this my shock reached an all-time high. “What?... How? ... Why?” I couldn’t even formulate a whole question.

“It’s like you keep forgetting who you’re talking to,” he replied, shaking his head. “I have an extremely worthwhile business opportunity for you as you’ve already been informed, but I’m afraid that’s all I can explain unless you join us on the plane. You sort of have to accept the job before I can explain the job. It’s all good stuff, though. You’ll be fine. Trust me.”

At this Pepper spoke again, “Yes, doctor, everything is already arranged and you don’t have to worry about a thing.”

All this reassurance did nothing to help me understand. I couldn’t leave everything behind, could I? Then again, what was I really leaving behind? I hadn’t been living at my new apartment very long; I wasn’t even finished unpacking all the boxes. All my time was spent at the office, adjusting to life as a non-resident. I hadn’t had time to meet new people, so all my friendships were long distance anyway. I didn’t have a boyfriend to think about. Obviously being so far from my family would be tough, but we didn’t live in the same city already. Maybe this would be a good move for me. Tony had sufficiently piqued my interest and he did say he had it all under control and that my patients were taken care of. So I did something very uncharacteristically me. I got on the plane.

“Finally!” Tony exclaimed, as he followed me into the cabin. “Wheels up in 5, Friday.” A disembodied voice responded, “Yes sir.”

I sat down in a plush leather seat and tried to digest what was happening. Tony and Pepper were seated across the aisle, looking at a tablet and already deep in discussion about the status of Captain America’s current mission. The three suits that had picked me up were loading luggage – my luggage – onto the plane. When they had finished, they shut the doors, and left us alone in the cabin. I looked out the window as the jet taxied to the runway, thinking about what I was doing. This had all happened incredibly quickly. Obviously, I’d never been in this sort of situation before. I’d never done anything remotely this spontaneous. The only celebrity encounter I’d had before this point was spotting Tom and Suri Cruise at Disney World once. And now Ironman was recruiting me to work for him, though for what job I had no idea. I watched as the objects outside seemed to speed up and felt that uncomfortable jolt of being thrust into the air encased in what to me seemed like a very small tube. I never did like flying.

Once we made it to cruising altitude, Friday’s voice pulled me from my thoughts. “You are now free to walk about the cabin.” She had a lovely Irish accent. I wondered to myself if she was flying the plane.

“You ok over there?” Tony asked from across the aisle. “You look like you could use a drink.” He stood and walked towards the bar at the back of the plane. “Come sit.” I looked over at Pepper who gave me a smile and a nod. I joined Tony at the bar.

“So, you have a lot of questions.”

I took a seat at one of the barstools. “Well, yeah. But I’m not sure where to start. This all happened so quickly.”

He nodded. “I’ll do my best to explain and then you can ask about anything I leave out. Deal?”

“Fair enough.”

“I have a job offer for you. Or rather, you have tentatively accepted a job offer from me. As of this morning, you no longer work for the practice that hired you out of residency. I bought them out of your contract, settled your debts, and put you on my payroll.” He let that sink in for a moment, reaching for a bottle of whiskey on the shelf behind the bar. He took my stunned silence for agreement. “I have found that we have a need for someone of your training on our team. As you no doubt know, the Avengers are quite an unusual group with a unique set of talents and gifts.”

“That’s an understatement,” I butted in.

He smirked. “You’re not wrong.” He produced two lowball glasses from somewhere and filled them two fingers full. He slid one over to me and continued, “But with this comes a new set of challenges in caring for their health and wellbeing. Through my not inconsequential connections and wealth, the Avengers have access to the most elite group of scientists, engineers, doctors, what have you. For the most part, this has been more than sufficient. But for their many inhuman capabilities, at their core they’re all still human. Mostly.”

I nodded, thinking I knew where he was going with this. “So, you’ve spent so much time making sure their super-human qualities were understood that perhaps you’ve neglected their humanity?”

“Bingo,” he said, “I knew we picked you for a reason. You catch on quick.”

“Picked me?”

“Well, yeah,” he said, pausing to take a sip of his drink, “This is not a random occurrence. This meeting is the result of months of searching and interviewing.”

I raised an eyebrow. “I think I’d remember an interview about this.”

“Ah, and now you disappoint me, Doctor. You really think we’d explicitly advertise this job opening? We’d never get through all the applications. No, we filtered through the promising candidates, and set up interviews for a fake practice.” He looked at me through slightly narrowed eyes. “You remember meeting a Dr. Coulson?”

“Yeah!” I replied enthusiastically. He had a dry sense of humor and we seemed to get along great. “He reached out for a meeting and the practice sounded amazing. When we sat down for the interview, it seemed I’d be a good fit there, but I never heard from him again.” Things were clicking in my mind. “… And now you’re going to tell me he works for you?”

Tony chuckled, “I’m going to have to tell him you asked that. No, he doesn’t work for me, but he does work for SHIELD.”

“Ok, so I did interview for the job. But why did I even get an interview?”

“We searched through the application databases looking for young doctors fresh out of residency. We don’t need any more surgeons or specialists. We were looking especially for someone with your background. Someone who could relate to them – us – at our most human. There were other factors that we considered, but that discussion includes a long, boring algorithm that would be tough for me to explain.”

“All right. But I’m still not sure how you decided on me.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, and I’m not trying to sell myself short when I say this, but I’m perfectly average. I always made average grades in medical school and while I think I got a great education and training, on paper I’m decidedly normal. I’m really not on par with the Avengers.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, doc, but that’s pretty much why you were in the running. These guys – and ladies – are above average in a lot of ways, and as I’ve told you, we’ve fully embraced that at the Avengers Tower. But I think it’s time we bring in some normalcy and help ground them. And me, for that matter. And frankly, you’re right. On paper, you are average, but I never met anyone who could be fully represented on paper.”

That last part might have hurt coming from someone else, but from Tony Stark it almost sounded like a compliment. “Ok, then, you have satisfied the why. But what exactly will I be doing?”

“Right,” he said nodding, “Your official job title will be Chief Medical Officer which unfortunately sounds infinitely more impressive than it probably will be. These guys don’t get sick that often. But you will oversee that care and refer them to their specialized physicians should the need arise. As you know most of the Avengers are termed “enhanced individuals” and some of their care might be above your training, but I think you’ll be able to handle most of it. The way I see it, they’ll come to you first and hopefully that’ll leave the specialists to their research. Most of the physicians we’ve hired so far are more academically than patient inclined.”

I took a sip of my drink. “I’m following. That’s pretty much what Dr. Coulson told me, not including the ‘enhanced individuals’ part of it, but all of this is what I hoped to be doing in medicine.” I wasn’t lying. I liked the idea of coordinating a patient’s care and seeing them as a person with many interacting systems rather than focusing on just one part.

“Perfect,” he smiled at me. “As CMO, you’ll be the first one these guys come to when they have any sort of medical issue, be that physically, mentally, emotionally, whatever. I would say that as a group we are more physically sound than most, but I think there’s a severe lack of communication about our mental state. I’m sure you’re aware that the Avengers have been involved in some high-profile disasters and seen a lot of shit. Nobody likes to talk about it, but we need a person to be there to listen. I think you could fill that void, and from your interview transcript, it seems patient counseling is a passion of yours.”

I nodded. “I just never anticipated that my patients would be the Avengers.”

“This is new for us, too. I’m not entirely sure what all the ins and outs of the job will be. But for now, you’ll move into the Avengers Tower to be available to the team at all times, particularly for after-mission triage and debriefings. You’ll have your own furnished apartment, access to all the Avengers training facilities, and a starting salary that is double what you were making before. All of the details are outlined in this contract.” At this point, Pepper joined us with a folder that she handed to me, saying, “Feel free to peruse through that and we can talk about making it official tomorrow morning. We should be landing in New York in about an hour so we’ll leave you alone to think.”

“But I was just going to tell her about –”

“Tony,” she said in a warning tone. “She’s got a lot to think about. We are going to let her relax and enjoy the rest of her flight,” she said sweetly, pulling Tony back to their seats.

“Thank you very much,” I smiled at her and then turned to the folder. She wasn’t wrong; I did have a lot to consider. I traced my finger along the large “A” embossed on the front of the folder, and then my name scrolled in smaller print along the bottom corner. It felt surreal to see that logo and my name together. I opened it and scanned through the pages, reading quickly about vacations, insurance, expectations, salary, bonuses. It was all extremely generous and more than fair, although the time commitment sounded heavy. While this wasn’t exactly a career change, it was entirely different from what I thought I’d be doing. Who anticipates getting to be the concierge doctor for the Avengers? But I was leaving behind my friends and family and the life I had only just established a few months ago. At the same time, though, I’d be stupid to turn down the offer to work for Tony Fucking Stark and the Avengers. Just thinking that to myself sounded insane. I finished my drink and took my phone from my pocket. I contemplated calling my sisters or my best friend or somebody, but decided I wanted today just for myself to bask in this crazy opportunity.

___

Before I knew it, we were landing in New York. I’d never even been to the state before, and I could hardly comprehend what I was seeing on the ride to the Tower. My mind was racing with thoughts about how we were headed to my new home where I’d live with and care for the Avengers. That thought would take some time getting used to.

Tony was talking, filling me in on some other details about the job. Steve, Wanda, Vision, Bucky, Bruce, Natasha, and of course Tony and Pepper lived at the tower. Clint lived with his family out of state most of the time, but stayed at the Tower occasionally. T’Challa lived in Wakanda, but also visited frequently. It was difficult to pin down Thor most of the time, but he would be in and out. Peter, the newest member, was still in high school and lived with his Aunt in Queens, but under the cover of an internship was at the Tower almost daily. Currently most of the team was away either on a mission or vacation, but should be returning to the tower in the next day or two for debriefing and to meet their new doctor.

All their faces flashed through my mind, most of them familiar to me already. It turns out it’s impossible to save the world on multiple occasions and remain anonymous. It was easy to see why Tony would want to protect their privacy as much as he could. I didn’t doubt there were tons of people vying to get close to the Avengers, not just because of their fame but because of what they could do. There was certainly a lot to digest about each of the Avengers, but Bucky was the one I was most curious about, probably because he was the one most in the shadows.

Tony explained to me that this would be a learning on the job kind of experience, but he felt confident that I was the right woman for it. I hoped he was right. There was still a not so small part of me that felt completely underqualified to be working in such close contact with this elite team.

When we arrived at the Tower, Tony laughed at me for thinking I’d carry my own bags to my apartment. “Please, Doctor, we have people for that,” he said, swatting my hands from the bags and leading me inside.

We got inside an express elevator, and Tony began to explain some more about the tower, “A lot of the building is office and lab space for research and development, but the top floors are exclusively for the Avengers. A map detailing the locations of anything else you might need will be in your welcome basket.”

“Welcome basket?” I asked.

“I try to think of everything,” Tony said with a grin. Pepper cleared her throat. “But Pepper usually does,” he recovered quickly.

The elevator stopped and opened onto a large living area. “Welcome to your new home, Doctor. As you can see, I’ve started the tour in the main living quarters,” he said, dramatically. “You’ll probably find most of us here when we’re in between missions. Follow me.”

We walked through the giant kitchen, complete with state of the art appliances and a fully stocked fridge. “You’ll have your own smaller kitchen in your apartment, but the team seems to eat most of their meals together. If there’s something you want and can’t find, just ask Friday and she’ll take care of it,” Pepper explained.

“Ms. Potts is correct,” Friday said, her voice seeming to come from the ceiling, “I’ve taken the liberty of stocking your personal refrigerator with items based on your grocery purchase history.”

“Impressive,” I mused, “I appreciate that, Friday.”

“Anytime, Doctor.”

We continued the tour through the home theater, which included more gaming systems than I had ever seen. Tony explained that there were virtually endless movies, channels, and games at my disposal. He spent twenty minutes cycling through the various streaming programs we had access to and sharing with me his favorite options on each.

There was a gym on this floor, the smallest of five in the tower. This one had several treadmills, ellipticals, and rowing machines as well as a dance studio. Pepper explained the other gyms had features that included weights, a full-size track, three bowling lanes, an Olympic length pool, a basketball court, two tennis courts, an archery range, a shooting range, and there was even one they simply referred to as “Bruce’s.”

Friday’s services were available throughout the tower. Not only did she coordinate the logistics of running the tower, but she handled communications services for the team. To be a part of such services, I had to hand over access to my phone and even get a small tracking chip placed in my arm. It would provide Friday with my location and vitals, as well as keep me in the loop of the other Avengers. I got my finger prints and retinas scanned, as well as finished set up for voice recognition. Part of me was nervous to provide such sensitive information, but Tony assured me that the Avengers were protected by the best technology that the Stark name could afford and it was all secure.

After thoroughly exploring the main floor, Tony had to leave. “I’m sorry to go so soon, but I have some things I have to get done in the lab this evening. We’ll meet tomorrow morning to sign the papers, yes?” I nodded. “Good. Pepper will show you to your apartment, and then you can feel free to make yourself at home. Because you are.” He gave me a wink and then took off.

“That’s Tony,” Pepper said with a smile, “Always on the run. But now let’s see your apartment. I’m sure you would like to relax. It’s been a busy day.” As excited as I was to be there, Pepper had a point. It was getting close to my bedtime. She led me back to the elevator. It was a short three floors to mine, which I shared with Bucky and Steve.

“Yours is the last door on the left, next to Bucky’s.” There was no need for a key. Access to each room was set up by the inhabitant and currently mine allowed only me to unlock the door. Now that my prints were in the system, I simply had to place my hand on the pad next to the door knob and it unlocked. “Tony likes to say the Tower is more secure than the White House, so there’s really no need for locks on our apartments, but some of us like to have a little privacy.”

I opened the door and was happily surprised by what I saw. This apartment seemed to be bigger than the one that I left behind just hours earlier. It was furnished, but not in the standard hotel-like way I was picturing before. This looked like someone’s home. Even crazier, it looked like my home. I don’t know how she arranged to have this all set up in the short time since we’d arrived in New York, but I wasn’t complaining. I recognized my own belongings, but the space was supplemented with other items that I did not own, but would have picked out. Everything fit my taste – eclectic and colorful. It had an open concept style with the living room overlooking the kitchen, smaller than the one three stories above, but still spacious with a small island and eating area. The living room was cozy with an overstuffed couch and loveseat huddled around a huge TV mounted over a fireplace. In the corner surrounded by built-in bookshelves was a papasan chair and curled up on a blanket was a familiar face.

“Louis!” I immediately went over and picked up the black and white cat, much to his distaste. I sat there scratching him under the chin and sighed happily.

“Do you like it?” Pepper asked me.

“I love it!” I exclaimed, “Thank you so much. I imagine you had a lot more to do with this than Tony did.”

She laughed. “I do flatter myself that my taste is a little better than his. But I will leave you alone to explore the rest of the apartment and the other floors as you wish. Friday will direct you to my office in the morning and we’ll sit down and make this official.”

“Sounds like a plan. Thanks again, Ms. Potts.”

“Oh, please, call me Pepper,” she turned to go, “I’ll see you tomorrow!” She shut the door gently behind her.

I looked at the clock on the wall. 8:30pm. As tired as I had been just moments before, the new apartment had given me energy. I carefully got up leaving Louis behind on the chair so I could check out the rest of the place. At first glance I knew this was going to be amazing, but on closer inspection, it got better and better. The walls were white, but covered with artwork. All my pieces from my old apartment were there, but there were some new ones sprinkled in, most notably a print of my favorite artwork by Caspar David Friedrich. I moved closer to it, and realized it was not a print, but the original. Tony Stark had put the original piece in my apartment. For me!

“Friday?” I called.

“Yes ma’am?”

“Remind me to thank Tony for the artwork.”

“I can send him a message now if you would like.”

“Oh. In that case, tell him he can’t bribe me with artwork to work for him. But it doesn’t hurt to try.”

“Message delivered.”

“Thanks, Friday.”

I moved on to the other rooms. My bedroom was equally as well decorated as the living room. Pepper had given me a metal canopy bed that was lit with tiny twinkling lights. A large brightly printed Persian rug softened the hardwood floor, and a chaise lounge was placed under the huge window. I’m not sure how they did it in this modern high-rise, but I could see exposed brick peeking out in several places from behind more framed artwork. The en suite bathroom had double sinks with a lighted vanity, plus a large soaking tub and rain shower and a huge walk in closet. My clothes didn’t come close to filling it up, but there were several shopping bags and boxes on the small settee in the middle of the room. A note with “From the desk of Pepper Potts” inscribed on it was placed on top:

‘Hi. I know this has been a long day for you and you’ve given up a lot to be here. I find that a little retail therapy helps in a lot of situations. I have picked out a few things I thought you might like, but would love to go shopping with you soon. Love – P.’

I opened the bags and pulled out several pairs of dress pants and blouses, practical items for a new job. But there was also a beautiful camel wool coat, three new pairs of heels, two statement necklaces, and a slinky black dress. I had no idea what occasion Pepper was thinking of with that last item, but I hoped it fit. I made a mental note to thank her in person for the gifts, and to wear some of the new items tomorrow for our meeting.

Across the hall, the other room was only slightly smaller than my bedroom. It was furnished as an office/guest room with a day bed and desk. It even had its own en suite bathroom. I wondered if I would be allowed to have guests stay with me or if my job would have to remain a secret. Either way I would have to explain to my family that I no longer lived in the same state. But that conversation could wait until tomorrow.

“Doctor?” Friday called out, “Mr. Stark has a message for you.”

“Yes?”

“He wishes to inform you that the painting is, and I quote, ‘not for have-sies,’ end quote, but he is glad you enjoy it.”

I smiled at that. Living here would be fun. “Thank you, Friday.”

There were a couple of additional storage closets, one for coats and one for linens. There was a small laundry room with a stacked washer and dryer. This is where I found Louis’ litter box. Or at least I assumed that’s what it was. It was a fancy box with a small hole in the front and I got a hopeful feeling that I had scooped litter for the last time. I walked back out to the kitchen and was happy to note that someone had already set up bowls for Louis’ food and water. And there on the counter was “Tony’s” welcome basket. It was full of my favorite fruit, candies, candles, and a bottle of champagne. There was another folder, embossed with the same logo as the contract, but significantly thinner. I opened it to find maps of each floor with descriptions of where to find anything I might want. There was even a list of takeout restaurants and someone had circled their favorites. There was a smaller note tucked in among the other papers, but this time inscribed with “A.E.S.”

‘Doctor,  
Welcome to the team. Don’t hesitate to let me know if you need anything. We’re a family here.’ – Tony.

I smiled to myself. I had known Tony and Pepper for less than a day and I already felt at home. All my nerves from earlier had faded. This was a big change for me, but I was feeling more and more confident that I had made the right choice in getting on that plane.

I felt like celebrating. “Louis, want some champagne?” Unsurprisingly, he didn’t even lift his head up off the chair.

I looked in the fridge. Sure enough, it was full of all my favorites. But I was in the mood for dessert, and there was nothing here that fit the bill. I grabbed the champagne and headed for the elevator.

Up on the main floor, I made my way to the kitchen. It was now much darker, and a bit creepy by myself. The lights didn’t seem to be on any sort of motion sensor, and I didn’t know where any of the light switches were. I fumbled around in the kitchen for a moment, and then it dawned on me.

“Friday? Can I get some lights in here?”

“By all means, doctor.”

The lights came on suddenly, and a person sitting at the bar was thrown into sharp relief.

“Holy shit!” I shouted, almost dropping the champagne. “You scared me half to death!”

The person turned out to be a he and he was eating some cereal. “I’m sorry. Didn’t know anyone else was here.” He looked at me curiously.

“You didn’t see me come in and search for the lights like an idiot?” I asked.

He shrugged. “You figured it out.”

It took a moment for my tachycardia to subside, and I got a better look at him. Bucky Barnes. Not technically a member of the Avengers, but definitely a famous face. “Do you often eat in the dark?” I walked over to the fridge to investigate the dessert situation.

“When I’m alone. I don’t mind it,” he said, and almost as an afterthought he added, “It’s somewhat comforting.”

Honestly, I thought that was kind of weird, but I only said, “Fair enough.” I called to him over my shoulder as I looked through the fridge, “Do you know if there’s any ice cream or dessert in here?”

Suddenly he was beside me in front of the open door. He leaned over, rummaged around for a second, and then produced a small cheesecake.

“Perfect!” I reached out to take it from him.

He hesitated. “I was saving this for a special occasion,” he said.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I misunderstood,” I replied quickly. “Of course.”

“You do misunderstand.” He had the tiniest hint of a grin on his face, like he had a secret. “This is a special occasion.”

“Is it?” I was confused.

“I think finding a pretty stranger in my kitchen qualifies as special, don’t you, Miss?” he asked, expectantly.

I smiled. “Actually, it’s Doctor,” I said, holding out my hand and introducing myself.

He set the cheesecake on the counter and shook my hand, “Ah, of course. My mistake. Tony told us you’d be arriving. I’m Bucky.”

“Nice to meet you,” I said, genuinely. I’m not sure anyone knew the full details of the life of James Buchanan Barnes, but I’d seen the Howling Commandos exhibit at the Smithsonian, and I watched the news. I knew enough about him to know he was carrying some seriously heavy baggage. It felt strange to be standing in front of him, discussing cheesecake. Surreal.

“How about this: if I split this champagne with you, will you share that cheesecake with me?” I asked, holding up the bottle.

He seemed surprised. “That’s the best idea I’ve heard in a long time.”

I smiled, and began opening cabinet doors looking for glasses.

“Glasses are above the sink, and forks are in the drawer next to the stove,” he said, seemingly reading my thoughts. “Don’t worry about plates.”

I grabbed a couple of champagne flutes and forks and joined Bucky at the bar. He pushed his cereal bowl to the side and set the cheesecake in between us. I tried opening the champagne, but Bucky watched me struggle for only a second before taking it from me and popping it open himself. “So you’re the new team doctor, huh?” he asked, filling our glasses.

“I guess so,” I said with a shrug, “Not official yet, but tomorrow it will be.”

“And you’re not from around here, either, are you?”

“No. How could you tell?”

“The accent. Dead giveaway.”

“That obvious? I never think it’s that bad until I venture out of the south.”

He smirked. “It’s obvious, but in no way bad.” There was a pause, like he wanted to say something else, but he kept it to himself.

“I’ll take it,” I said, smiling, filling in the silence. “Now how do we go about cutting this cake?”

“No need for that. Just dig in.”

“I was hoping you’d say that.” I picked up my fork. We sat in silence for a few moments. The cake was absolutely sublime. I could understand why he was saving it. “This feels kind of like that episode of Friends when Chandler and Rachel eat all those cheesecakes.”

He looked at me blankly.

“You know, the one where they eat it off the floor in the hallway?”

“I’m afraid I don’t know.”

“Wait, are you telling me you don’t know the episode or you don’t know the show?”

“It’s all foreign to me.”

“Unacceptable,” I said, shaking my head. “We’re remedying this right now.” I grabbed my fork and the champagne. “Come on.”

“Where are we going?” He grabbed the cake and his glass and followed.

“Tony spent half an hour today explaining to me the cool things his theater can do. I’m sure we can find Friends.” I led him into the theater which was set up with a dozen or so recliners arranged in theater-style seating. We sat in the second row with the cheesecake on the armrest between us.

“Friday, can you find that episode of Friends? The cheesecake episode?”

“Yes, Doctor. I believe you’re referring to an episode in the show’s seventh season, The One with All the Cheesecakes.”

“Sounds right to me, Friday. Play on.” As the Rembrandts’ theme song filled the room, I turned to Bucky and said, “Get ready for this show to change your life. I can’t believe no one has watched this with you yet.”

“Steve and I watch movies and TV together sometimes. We have a list of stuff we missed.” He seemed somewhat uncomfortable, and I realized he must constantly be bombarded with subtle reminders of the time he’d lost.

“Friends is a vital addition to that list. We can start at the beginning after this episode.” Tony had said he wanted me to help bring some normalcy to the group. I could think of nothing more normal than sitting down with a friend and binge-watching Netflix.

Bucky loved the cheesecake episode. Or at least I hoped he did. I think I heard him chuckle at one point, but it might have been my imagination. We finished our own cheesecake while watching the pilot episode. At some point during the next episode, I must have fallen asleep. I woke up to Bucky gently shaking my shoulder, “Hey, you want to call it a night?”

I yawned, looking down at my watch. It was after ten, which wasn’t late, but after the day I’d had it felt like 2 in the morning. “Yeah, I’m afraid I’m going to have to. I’m beat. Did you enjoy the show?”

He nodded. “It was a good suggestion.” He grabbed the glasses and forks. I picked up the remains of the cheesecake and the empty bottle of champagne and followed him into the kitchen. He put the dishes in the dishwasher and I found the trashcan. We walked in comfortable silence to the elevator. He pushed the button for our floor and said, “I think everyone should be back tomorrow or the next day.”

I nodded. “That’s what Tony told me.” I paused for a second before telling him, “I’m nervous.”

He looked at me, eyebrows raised. “Nervous? Why?”

“They’re the Avengers!”

“And?”

“What do you mean, ‘and’? They’re practically super human!”

“Yeah, and?”

“And … And, well, I’m not,” I said, somewhat lamely.

The elevator had reached our floor and we stepped out. “I’m not sure why that should matter,” he replied quietly, as we walked down the hall.

“How will I be able to help them? Or you?” At this he looked at me a little strangely. “How can I take care of a group like y’all when I’m nothing like you?”

“We’re still human.” There was a sadness to his tone, and I wondered if I had offended him. Before I could apologize, he said, “Good night, Doctor. And welcome to the team.”

“Thanks, Bucky.” I turned to continue walking to my door, feeling bad about how that ended.

“Same time tomorrow?” He called after me.

I looked back at him, confused. “Same time?”

“Yeah. To watch the show?”

“Oh! Yeah, that would be fun.” Surprising. I guess we were ok.

“Cool. Night.” He let himself into his apartment.

“Good night.” I walked back to my place and into my new bathroom to get ready for bed. A soak in the tub was tempting, but my fatigue won out. I found that all my toiletries had been unpacked and organized neatly in the drawers by the sink. I quickly washed my face, found some pajamas in the closet and climbed into bed. I asked Friday to turn out the lights and set an alarm for me. She was even able to find my Spotify account and queue up my relaxation playlist. Louis jumped onto the bed and curled up at my feet. I was completely happy.


	2. Chapter 2

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 1

Friday’s alarm woke me up promptly at 7:30. “Good morning, Doctor,” she called to me, “Ms. Potts is expecting you at 9.” 

“Thanks, Friday,” I said with a yawn. I could get used to having her around. I stumbled into the bathroom and hopped in the shower. After, I put on a pair of grey tweed pants and a simple white button down. I slipped into some of the new shoes that Pepper picked out for me and was delighted to find they were extremely comfortable. I went with some jewelry I already owned, put on a little bit of makeup and went to grab some breakfast. 

I thought about staying in to eat breakfast in my own kitchen, but the chance of meeting Bucky upstairs changed my mind. I wanted to explain to him what I meant last night in the hallway. I grabbed my bag, made sure Louis had some food in his bowl, and left. 

I was a little disappointed to find the kitchen empty. I took my time making coffee and toasting a bagel, hopeful that a certain blue-eyed ex-assassin would join me. No such luck. I looked down at my watch: 8:45. “Friday?”

“Yes?”

“Can you direct me to Ms. Potts’ office?”

“Of course, Doctor. Follow the lighted path.” 

Sure enough, a thin white line was illuminated on the floor. Incredible. I followed it to the elevator. Once it arrived, the lighted button for the 38th floor started pulsing. From there, it was easy enough to follow that light and find Pepper’s office. 

Her secretary recognized me immediately and buzzed Pepper that I had arrived. Not five seconds later, Pepper herself was in front of me, shaking my hand. “Thank you so much for the new clothes, Pepper.” I fingered the hem of my shirt. “I love them all.”

“Oh, so the dress fit?” She asked, hopefully.

The slinky black dress. “Ah, I didn’t actually try that one on yet. But it’s beautiful.”

“I thought it would look nice on you. And I think it’ll be perfect for the Halloween gala.”

“Gala?” I asked.

“Yes, Tony puts on an annual fundraiser for the children’s hospital. You’ll be going, of course. But we can discuss that later. First, we have some papers to sign.”

Galas? I had no idea that invitations to Tony Stark’s formal events would be part of this deal. I couldn’t say I was unhappy about it, though. The idea of dressing up and rubbing elbows with some of New York’s finest didn’t sound half bad. 

“Tony will be joining us shortly. I thought we could sit down for a few minutes, though, and I could answer any questions you might have.” She ushered me into her office and I took a seat across from her. 

“Actually, I did have a question. I would like to call my family and explain that I’ve moved, but I wasn’t sure how much I could tell them about my new job.”

“Oh! You haven’t said anything to anyone yet, have you?”

“No, ma’am.”

“Good. Thank you for your discretion. It wouldn’t be the end of the world, and it’s my fault for not explaining yesterday. But it goes without saying that this is a high-profile group of people. We try not to advertise too much about the Avengers when they get so much publicity just by doing their job. The less people know about the inner workings of the Avengers Tower, the better.”

“Of course. I will tell them I took a job at a hospital here.”

The rest of our meeting went by quickly. Pepper showed me to my office and introduced me to my assistant, Mallory. More accurately, she was an assistant to all the Avengers, making appointments and keeping their calendars. Her desk was right outside our offices. It was funny to me that each of the Avengers even had an office; I doubt they ever used them. It did, however, make me feel more like a member of the team that my office was sandwiched in between Wanda’s and Steve’s. Technically, I had two rooms: an office for myself with my diplomas on display and an exam room. The thought of giving one of the Avengers a physical also made me laugh, but the room was outfitted with all the instruments I’d need should the task arise. By then, Tony met up with us, we ironed out the details and salary and I signed the contract. I was now officially working for the Avengers.

“All right, Doctor, glad to have all that squared away. I think everyone will be back at the tower this afternoon, and we can make all the introductions then. Bucky’s here though if you wanted to go ahead and introduce yourself. Have you seen him around?”

“Yes, I ran into him last night.”

This seemed to surprise Tony. “He wasn’t rude to you, was he?” he asked.

“Rude? No, quite the opposite. He shared some cheesecake with me and I introduced him to Friends.”

“Huh. It seems you might already be doing some good work here, Doctor.” 

Clearly, I was missing something about my new friend Bucky. It didn’t seem like the right setting to ask. I thanked them again for the job, excused myself to leave Pepper to her work, and headed back to my apartment.

___ 

I spent the next hour agonizing over what to wear, practicing what to say, and generally just dreading meeting the Avengers. ‘Hi, Captain America, I know you’re super human and never get sick, but I’m your new Doctor.’ ‘Hi, Wanda. I know you can move things with your mind, but come see me if you ever feel overwhelmed with your job.’ It sounded so lame. There was no way I could help these people.

I needed to distract myself, so I called my mom. She answered on the 4th ring.

“Hi, baby!” she exclaimed.

“Hi Mom! Listen, you’ll never believe where I am.”

It took me some time to convince her that I was ok. I realized it was difficult to understand that I completely uprooted my life and moved a dozen states away, but wasn’t going through some sort of crisis. She was sad to learn that I no longer lived in the same state, and that I didn’t tell her before I moved. A small pang of guilt shot through me at that, and I wondered for a moment if I’d made a mistake. But then I thought of all the opportunities waiting for me in the next few weeks and tried to explain them to her without mentioning anything regarding the Avengers. 

“Will you be able to come home soon?” she asked me. 

“Definitely. And I’ll be able to explain better in person. Please don’t worry about me!”

“Ok, baby, if you say so. I love you very much!”

“I love you too, Mom,” I said smiling. 

I am not sure if I felt better after our conversation or not, but I didn’t want to sit in my room and worry about my meeting with the Avengers later any more. 

I left my apartment and saw Bucky returning to his. He was breathing heavily, and his workout clothes were soaked with sweat. He had his headphones on and he didn’t notice me at first. As I got closer I could hear the music he was listening to. 

“Bastille, huh?” I asked, raising my voice so he could hear me. 

Turning to find the source of the voice and seeing me for the first time, he paused his music and took off his headphones. “What’s that?”

“You like Bastille?”

“Yeah, they’re not bad. Natasha helped me set this up.” He held up his iPhone. 

“She has good taste.” Sharing music interests was a good sign. A little of my anxiety ebbed.

“I actually just saw her upstairs if you want to go talk to her about it.” He gave me a knowing look. 

“All right, I guess I’ll get it over with,” I said with a sigh. 

“You’ll be fine. Even though you’re nothing like us.” Was that a grin?

I blushed. “I didn’t mean it like that. I only meant that I’m not sure I’m entirely qualified to be here.”

“And yet here you are,” he replied, “Besides, we’re more like you than you think.” 

I didn’t feel so confident, but I went to find Natasha anyway. When I got to the main floor, I heard voices coming from the kitchen.

“- just like that time in Barcelona,” said a male voice.

“Are you kidding? I don’t remember being backed into a corner and surrounded in Barcelona,” replied a quieter female voice.

“You exaggerate. I had you covered,” he replied.

If the female voice was Natasha, I guessed the man she was talking to was Clint. I entered the kitchen to find my predictions correct. Natasha was leaned against the counter, eating a pear. Clint faced her from his seat at the bar, with his back to me. Before I could announce myself, Natasha saw me. 

“This must be the new doctor,” she said, not unkindly. Based on what I knew about her from TV and online, Natasha scared me. Just standing there, she was not especially physically imposing; I had at least a couple of inches on her. No, hers was more of a quiet intimidation. It was extremely difficult to tell what she was thinking. 

Clint turned in his seat to face me. The family man of the Avengers. He had kind eyes and the appearance of someone who laughed easily. It was interesting to me that these two were partners and worked so closely together. 

“Hi there, doctor,” He said, rising from his seat. “I’m Clint, this is Natasha.”

I shook his hand and then Natasha leaned forward from her perch to accept my handshake. “It’s very nice to meet you both,” I told them, “Somewhat surreal.”

“Don’t worry,” Clint said, smiling, “Give it a few days. That feeling will fade when you see Tony yelling at us to do the dishes, or Thor challenging anyone and everyone to a fart contest.”

I laughed at the thought. “Thanks for the heads up.”

“I heard you already met Bucky,” Natasha said, looking at me with a sly smile.

“Yeah, he scared the shit out of me last night,” I replied. “But he shared his cheesecake with me, so no harm done.”

“No way!” Clint said, shocked. “He told me he’d go full Winter Soldier on me if I ate any of that.”

“Yes, Clint my dear, but you’re not a pretty young lady,” Natasha said. I blushed. 

Clint didn’t see. “I may not be, but I’ve saved his ass a time or two. You’d think that would count for something … Hey, listen, doc, could I bring my kids by? It’s their fall break from school and we brought them to the city for a little vacation. Now their mother thinks they have strep or something.” He waved his hand flippantly. “Personally, I think they’re fine, but she’s worried.”

“Yeah, of course,” I replied, grateful for the change of subject. “I’ll be happy to take a look at them. How old are they?”

Clint proceeded to tell me all about his wife Laura and kids Cooper and Lila. He showed me pictures he kept in his wallet. Cooper was in the second grade and Lila had just started kindergarten. He was in the middle of bragging to me about how good they already were with the bow and arrow when we heard the ding of the elevator and a booming voice.

“I must meet this healer at once!” Suddenly the largest man I’d ever seen was towering in the doorway. Before I even had time to brace myself or hold out my hand for a handshake, I found myself crushed in an embrace so strong that my feet were lifted from the floor. 

“So, another woman joins our ranks!” When my feet found the floor again, I took a step back and saw Thor clearly for the first time. He was immensely huge with long blond hair and slightly more battle worn than I’d imagined. And he was apparently very happy to meet me.

I introduced myself and held out my hand. He took it gladly, a huge smile on his face, before bowing to kiss it. “Thor son of Odin, of Asgard. It is an honor.”

“Would you give it a rest with the formality, Shakespeare?” Tony sighed, walking into the kitchen. He nodded at me and greeted Clint and Natasha. 

“I was simply extending our new healer the customary Asgardian greeting.”

“It’s customary to hug someone you just met like that?” I turned to the source of the familiar voice. I had not even noticed Bucky come in. He looked fresh from a shower.

“We Asgardians do not hide from our emotions, metal man. We embrace them.”

Bucky had no reply for this. Luckily Tony filled the silence. “I see you’ve all met the good doctor. The rest of the team should be here this evening. We’ll have dinner to celebrate our new addition.”

“A feast!” Thor exclaimed. “Wonderful! I will bring the ale.” And just like that he turned and left.

“We want to celebrate her, not kill her!” Natasha called after him. 

“Where is he going?” I asked.

“Asgard, I expect,” Tony shrugged, “To get the ale.”

“You’ll have to watch yourself around him,” Natasha warned, “He’s always trying to get us to drink with him.”

“Steve and Bucky can handle it fine, but the rest of us,” Clint shook his head. “It’s a no go.” His phone buzzed on the counter, “Excuse me, guys.” 

I looked over at Bucky who seemed unfazed by the conversation. I liked the thought of him relaxing over drinks with Thor and Steve. He certainly deserved the distraction.

“Well, kiddos, it’s been real, but I got to get some work done before dinner,” Tony remarked and headed for the elevator. “Someone’s gotta pay the bills, y’know?”

Clint walked back into the room. “Hey, doc. My wife and the kids are downstairs. Is now a good time?”

“Sure. We can meet them at my office.” I was looking forward to meeting the children.

“You’re a life saver,” he replied. He typed out a quick text to his wife while headed to the elevator. I nodded to Natasha and Bucky and followed him out. 

___ 

 

Cooper and Lila Barton were simply two of the cutest kids I’d ever met. I asked them about school and what they liked to do for fun. Cooper’s face lit up when he talked about football and Lila showed me her doll. “She carries that thing everywhere,” Laura sighed. 

“That’s normal for a girl her age,” I explained. “My sisters and I did the same thing.”

“We’re going to see The Lion King tonight!” Cooper interrupted.

“What? No way!” I said with a touch of jealousy. “That was my favorite movie when I was your age. It’s still one of my favorites. But let’s make sure you’re healthy enough to go later. Why don’t you hop on the table and I’ll take a look at your throat?” 

It was obvious after a quick exam that they were suffering from nothing more serious than a cold. They were soon chasing each other around the exam room. 

“It doesn’t look like strep to me,” I told Laura. 

“See, I told you, honey,” Clint remarked.

“It’s always a good idea to be doubly sure, though,” I told him. “Leaving strep untreated can lead to some nasty stuff. But I think these guys will be ok in a day or two.”

I gave Laura some advice about over the counter meds for their symptoms and told her to bring them back if anything changed. She gave me a hug, and ushered the kids out of the room. “You guys have fun tonight! I can’t wait to hear all about the show!” I waved good-bye. Clint hung back to thank me again saying, “You made me look good today, doc. Glad to have you on board.”

I shrugged. “It’s nothing. Just doing what I can.”

Clint followed his family out the door and I walked over to my office. I was surprised to find someone waiting for me. 

“I don’t have an appointment,” Bucky said. He was looking at my diplomas on the wall. 

“You don’t need one,” I replied, taking a seat at my desk. 

“It says here you graduated just a few years ago. How old are you?”

I was surprised by his question. It occurred to me then that I probably finished medical school about 100 years after he was born. “I’m 28.”

“Huh,” he said with a small smile, “Same age I was when Hydra found me. Small world.”

I felt oddly connected to him, like his life had stopped at the exact point mine had begun. Even though technically he was roughly 80 years older than me, it was like we were the same age. 

Bucky interrupted my thoughts. “You didn’t need to be worried.”

“About what?”

“Meeting the team.”

“Oh right,” I said, my earlier anxiety about my first impression returning. “Do you think they like me?”

“Natasha was highly complimentary of you.”

“Really?” This surprised me. I thought back to when she asked me about Bucky. Was there something between them?

“She said she thought you were cool and she looked forward to talking to you one-on-one.”

I wasn’t sure if I should be relieved or more nervous about that. But the Black Widow thinking that I was cool? Couldn’t be a bad thing.

“And Clint and his family clearly love you already,” he continued. I raised my eyebrow. “I overheard you talking to them,” he said, looking a little guilty. 

“It doesn’t hurt that those kids are so cute,” I said, laughing. 

He sank down into the armchair across from my desk. “I don’t get it.”

“Don’t get what? Did you not see the kids? Trust me, they’re cute.”

“No, not about that.” He sighed. “You’ve been here for roughly 24 hours and already you fit right in.”

“Oh. Is that a bad thing?”

“No. It’s just …” He paused and seemed to second guess what he was about to say. “It’s good,” he said finally, “It’s really good.”

I eyed him suspiciously, but pretended to go with it. “Yeah, I’m relieved. Everyone has been so great so far.”

“Yeah … Well, I’ll leave you to your business,” he stated abruptly, and before I could stop him, he was out the door.  
___ 

 

I got off the elevator and could immediately hear a bunch of voices coming from the dining area. Walking into the room, I saw most of the Avengers seated around the large table.

“Ah, there she is!” exclaimed Tony. “The woman of the hour!”

All the Avengers quieted down and turned to look at me. “Uh, hi?” I said awkwardly. 

“Well don’t just stand there, come sit down!” Tony waved me over to the seat at the head of the table. He was seated beside me, and a man I recognized as Captain America was across from him. 

“I’m sure you’ve heard of Steve Rogers?” he asked me.

“Of course,” I said extending my hand. Steve shook it firmly and gave me a smile. “Big fan.”

Even though introductions really weren’t necessary, Tony went around the table. “You’ve already met the elusive Winter Soldier.” Bucky grimaced at the name, but gave me an almost imperceptible wink. “And you know Natasha.” She nodded towards me. “Next to her is my favorite green rage monster, Bruce Banner.” It was hard to believe that the attractive man sitting on Natasha’s right was the same person that almost single-handedly destroyed New York. I also noticed that he had his arm around Natasha. Clearly, I was wrong about her and Bucky. 

“This is Wanda Maximoff, our resident badass witch,” Tony announced, bringing me back to the table. Wanda’s eyes flashed red, but she smiled warmly at me. “Then there’s her boyfriend, Vision, an android of my own creation.” 

“Actually, I am -”

Tony cut him off. “Yeah, yeah, tied to the infinity stone. We get it. Next to Vision is Colonel James Rhodes, who has blessed us with a rare appearance at the Tower. You can call him Rhodey. Or Iron Man, Jr. Whichever.”

Rhodey rolled his eyes at the introduction. “Good to meet you, ma’am.” 

“You know my better half, Pepper.” She gave me a wave from the other end of the table. “And you met Clint’s family this afternoon.”

“Are you going with us to see The Lion King?” Cooper called out. Everyone laughed. 

“I’m not sure I can make it this time, buddy, but you can give me an encore performance tomorrow,” I told him. 

“You had the pleasure of making Thor’s acquaintance this morning also,” Tony continued.

Thor raised his beer stein, “The pleasure was all mine!” 

“And this is Peter Parker, our newest and youngest member,” Tony put his arm around the teenager sitting next to him. 

“Nice to meet you, Doctor.”

“And that’s everybody,” Tony concluded. “T’Challa is busy being King of Wakanda. And Scott … I don’t actually know where he is. We might need to check to make sure he’s not in jail somewhere.”

He paused and everyone looked at me, waiting. “Oh!” I said, taking the hint. “It’s really lovely to meet all of you. I’m very excited to be working here and looking forward to helping out in whatever ways I can.” I told them a little more about where I was from and where I went to school. 

“Our new doctor has moved in to the Tower and will be available to you for all your healthcare needs,” Tony explained. “I expect all of you to go to her before and after every mission to get medically cleared. And more than that, I’d like all of you to debrief with her on a regular basis.” 

“Debrief?” Steve asked, somewhat annoyed. “We already have enough of those, don’t we?” He glanced at me. “No offense, doc.”

“No, I get it,” I admitted. “But I won’t be concerned so much with if your mission was a success or not. I don’t need the technical ins and outs of how your equipment held up or if your strategies paid off. I’ll be interested to see how you’re handling the outcomes, good or bad. How it might be affecting you outside of work. That kind of thing.”

Steve nodded, “Like therapy.”

“I guess you can call it that,” I replied. “I think everyone benefits from having someone to talk to. An impartial listener that doesn’t judge and may not even give advice. I’m here to support the health of the Avengers, and that includes mental health.”

“I’m the last one to admit when I need help,” Tony said in a moment of uncharacteristic vulnerability. “But I think this will help us avoid making some catastrophic mistakes like we’ve made in the past.” No one said anything, but I’m sure everyone was thinking about the events leading up to the very public disasters in Sokovia, Lagos, and even right here in New York. There were silent nods from all around the table.

“All right!” Tony said, breaking the tension. “Enough business. Let’s eat.”

“Aye!” thundered Thor. He rose from his seat and bowed. “Ladies first.”

Conversation quickly erupted around the table. I followed Natasha and Wanda’s lead into the kitchen. Pepper and Laura were right behind with Cooper and Lila in tow. 

Thor wasn’t far off when he mentioned a feast earlier. There were trays and trays of delicious smelling food filling the countertops. There was quite a variety, but I noticed there seemed to be a southern theme and I expect that was for my benefit. I grabbed a plate and got in line behind the Bartons. Pepper was chatting with Laura about recipes for some sort of dessert while Laura juggled filling plates for herself and Lila. Cooper grabbed a plate. As I filled my plate, I kept one eye on Cooper’s and helped him when he needed it. I looked across and saw Natasha and Wanda giggling about something. They kept darting their eyes over to Vision, who was oblivious to their gaze. Tony and Bruce were deep in discussion about something that was too scientific for my brain. Steve and Bucky took advantage of their distraction to cut them in line and follow me. 

“So, Bucky tells me you’re our new neighbor,” Steve said taking the serving spoon for the macaroni from me. 

“Yes, sir,” I replied, smiling. I glanced at Bucky who was making his way down the other side of the island. I could have been imagining it, but he might have been blushing.

“He also told me that you introduced him to his new favorite show.” At this Bucky definitely blushed, but kept his eyes focused on the food.

“It’s a classic,” I tried to remain nonchalant, but I was happy to note that Bucky had already talked to Steve about me. 

“You’ll have to join us for our next movie night. We’re trying to get through all of the Star Wars movies,” Steve continued. Bucky looked up from his plate to gauge my response. 

“Of course!” I replied. “Those are some of my favorites. Just let me know.” At this point I’d reached the end of the island and took my plate to the table. 

“My dear healer!” Thor boomed as I sat down. “You lack something to drink!”

“So I do,” I replied, laughing. I made a move to stand up to return to the kitchen.

“No, you sit! I shall retrieve something for you. But here, have some of this while you wait.” He passed me his stein. 

I took it warily. “What is this?”

“Ale!” he replied heartily. He stood up from the table again. “I shall return with your beverage forthwith.”

“Thanks!” I called after him. I looked down at the stein, remembering what Clint said earlier and unsure if I should partake. It looked like beer, albeit a dark stout. Surely having just a taste wouldn’t be too bad. I took a sip. It tasted divine. 

“Are you drinking that?” I looked up to see Bucky looking back at me, somewhat horrified. He placed his plate on the table and sat down.

“Just a little,” I admitted, taking another sip. “It’s tasty.”

“It’s also extremely alcoholic.”

“Well, yeah, Bucky. It’s beer.” I swallowed some more.

“It’s Asgardian beer,” he said exasperatedly. “One sip of that is equivalent to more than a bottle of what you’d normally drink.” 

I looked back at him with wide eyes. “Then what is 4 sips equivalent to?”

“4 sips of what?” Steve asked, sitting down between us. 

“Thor shared his beer with her.” Bucky explained.

Steve just laughed. “Now it’s a party.”

“What did you think, my dear?” Thor had returned to the table with a full plate and handed me a glass of wine in exchange for his beer.

I began to feel a familiar warmth spread through my stomach. “Delicious!” I exclaimed, perhaps a little louder than usual. 

“Did you hear that, Anthony?” Thor called. “I have a new drinking companion.”

Tony looked up from his conversation with Bruce, saw who Thor was referring to, and grinned. He simply raised his glass in response. 

“James, Steven? Care for a taste?” Thor offered his stein to the two soldiers. Bucky declined, but Steve nodded. “It’s been awhile.” Thor passed him the beer. 

Supposedly, Steve’s super soldier serum prevented him from getting drunk. But like Bucky said, this was Asgardian beer. If Steve had enough of it, it seemed even his metabolism couldn’t keep up. By the time I finished my first plate and went back for seconds, he and Thor were engaged in a lively debate. They were passing the beer back and forth between each other. I occasionally got the tiniest of sips, but focused my attention on my plate to avoid getting too drunk. That certainly wouldn’t make a very good first impression on anyone. 

“You can’t be serious, Thor!” Steve said loudly. 

“I most certainly can be,” Thor replied. “I would never jest about this. Daniel Craig is the best Bond.”

“Now you’re just being difficult,” Steve said, rising from his chair, “Everyone knows Sean Connery is clearly the best Bond.” He moved to Tony’s still vacant seat, trapping poor Peter between he and Thor. 

“I was always partial to Timothy Dalton,” I suggested. Both Thor and Steve looked at me with disgust. “What? He had that cute little smirk.” I heard Bucky chuckle beside me. 

“He was terrible,” Steve said, shrugging me off.

“Well, at least he didn’t have to wear a wig to play the part. Cough, cough, Connery.”

Thor burst out laughing. “She’s got you there, Captain.”

“Well can we at least agree that Lazenby was a joke?” Steve turned back to Thor. 

“I’m not so sure…” And Thor trailed off into some elaborate argument and I lost interest. 

I think I was the only one to notice Bucky get up from the table and return with a glass of ice water. He placed it silently at the Captain’s empty seat. I scooted from my chair to Steve’s. 

“Thank you,” I took a drink from the glass gratefully. I was feeling a little tipsy.

“Of course,” he replied, looking over at Thor and Steve. Peter managed to wiggle out of his chair and move to the other end of the table to sit with the less rowdy bunch. 

“I like your friends,” I told Bucky.

“They’re certainly entertaining,” he said with a smirk. “And they seem to like you.” 

“I don’t know about that.” I looked across the table to Thor and Steve who had moved on to disagreeing about who was the best Bond girl. “I think it might be too early to tell.”

“No, they do,” he said, “And not many people could have that much Asgardian beer and still be sitting upright.”

I laughed. “I may not be drunk, but I certainly shouldn’t be operating any heavy machinery tonight.” 

I looked down the table. The Bartons must have left a while ago to make it to the show. Bruce and Tony were still talking in the corner. Pepper was having a conversation with Wanda and Natasha. I could hear their laughter. Vision and Rhodey were discussing something that, judging by their facial expressions, was far more important than the conversation happening across the table. Peter was gone. I looked down at my watch. It was almost 10, and a school night. Maybe he had homework.

This group was loud and obnoxious, but I already loved them all. Maybe it was just the huge meal and alcohol I’d had, but I felt full and happy. Like Bucky said earlier, I had been here only one day, but I felt at home. 

Bucky interrupted my thoughts. “So, do you -”

He was cut off by Natasha calling my name from the other end of the table. I put my hand on his arm and told him I’d be right back. He nodded, encouraging me to join the ladies. 

The three women smiled at me as I sat down in what I think was originally Rhodey’s chair. “We were just discussing how unfortunate was that we were seated so far from you at dinner,” Pepper said, “That’s what I get for allowing Tony to make the seating arrangements.”

I laughed. “Yes, as much as I enjoyed the company of Thor and the soldiers, I think the conversation was probably more my speed down here.”

“What would you say to brunch tomorrow?” Wanda asked hopefully. 

“That sounds lovely,” I responded, genuinely. “I would love to get out and see a little of the city.”

Pepper had a standing reservation at a chic little bistro not far from the tower. After we finalized our brunch plans, the conversation quickly turned to the upcoming gala. Wanda and Natasha were lamenting the fact that neither knew what they were going to go as. 

“What do you mean?” I asked, confused.

“It’s a Halloween gala, silly,” Natasha stated. “You go in costume.”

“Well, chic, somewhat subtle costumes,” Wanda explained. 

“I think I have something that might work for that,” I said, glancing at Pepper, who smiled at me.

“You’ll definitely have to show us!” Wanda said, “And you’ll have to help us find something. Maybe tomorrow?”

So that’s how I ended up making plans to go to brunch and shopping with Pepper Potts, the Scarlet Witch, and the Black Widow. This was my life now. 

The party seemed to be dying down. Bruce and Tony were still in deep discussion. Thor and Steve, though not at the table any more, were still drinking, if the sound of their singing voices coming from the theater was any indication. Rhodey and Vision were gone. Bucky was gone, too. I excused myself from the ladies, somewhat giddy that I’d be joining them tomorrow. I got up from the table and headed to the elevator. I checked my watch. Maybe he was still awake?

I was a little unsteady on my feet as I walked down the hall. Not drunk, but the effects of Asgardian beer were still swimming around in my brain. I knocked on his door. “It’s open!” he called. I let myself in.

The layout to his apartment was the mirror image of mine. But where mine looked cozy and lived-in, his was sparse and minimalistic. He had a nice TV, but simple furnishings and almost no décor. I guess he refused Pepper’s interior design services. 

“Do you want a beer?” he called from the kitchen. 

“Sure,” I replied.

“Oh, shit, it’s you!” He had walked into the living room, holding two beers. He was wearing a pair of sweat pants. No shirt. Not that I was complaining. 

I spent perhaps a moment too long looking at him. “What a greeting.”

“No! I didn’t mean it like that,” he exclaimed, backtracking. “I just figured it was Steve is all.”

“Definitely not Steve.”

“Definitely not.” He continued to stand there with the two beers.

“So, can I sit down, or …”

“Oh, of course, please,” he set the beers down on the coffee table and much to my disappointment, grabbed a shirt from a pile of clothes on the couch and put it on. 

“Thanks,” I sank down on the couch. “I was going to ask if you wanted to watch Friends, but I think Thor and Steve took over the theater.”

He sat down in the chair across from me. “We could do something else,” he suggested.

“What did you have in mind?” 

___ 

“Y’know, I don’t think anyone ever comes down here.”

“Seriously? I love bowling … In fact, you might say it’s right up my alley.”

“Oh, come on, Doc,” Bucky sighed. “That was terrible.”

“I couldn’t resist.” 

If it was true that no one ever bowled here, that was a real shame. It appeared Tony had sunk a pretty penny into making his own alley. There were three lanes, each with their own overhead scoreboard monitor. Along the wall was a long rack, laden with gleaming bowling balls in a variety of weights. There was a closet filled with bowling shoes in all different sizes. Two pool tables and a jukebox were set up on the other side of the room. There was even a small concession stand, complete with popcorn machine and three different beers on tap. 

For a guy who hadn’t bowled for over 70 years, Bucky was a much better bowler than me. He was laser focused with remarkable precision. Each ball took almost the exact same trajectory as the one before. After our first game, he only had one empty frame. Meanwhile I barely broke 100. While my last ball rolled hopelessly into the gutter, I turned and fell into the chair across from Bucky. “I think you might have an unfair advantage.”

“How so?”

“Well, for starters, you have a metal arm.”

Bucky looked down at his left hand and wiggled his fingers. The plates moved together seamlessly. “Lucky for you, I bowl right handed,” he said.

“Fine, no advantage there,” I relented. “But I’m still working with a handicap.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. That Asgardian ale did a number on me. I feel like I’m still a little drunk but also already hungover.”

He smiled. “I did warn you about that.”

“So you did,” I said with a sigh. “I’ll be sure to listen to you next time.”

We bowled one more game, but my skills only marginally improved. Bucky, however, had almost a perfect score. 

“Incredible!” I declared as we headed to the elevator. “And you haven’t bowled at all in this century?”

“Not since 1940, give or take a year. And like I said, no one really comes down here.”

“I’m sure you all stay busy with Avengers business.”

“Well, they do,” he said quietly, “I haven’t really left the tower in a while.”

It occurred to me that this was probably not by his choice. And while the Tower had all the amenities a person could ever want, if you couldn’t leave, it was still a prison. I wasn’t sure how to respond to that so I simply said, “Oh.”

“Supposedly I’m clear to go on the next mission, though, ‘if my skills are deemed useful’,” he recited. 

“That’s good news, right?”

“Right,” he replied, unconvincingly. There was more there that he wasn’t saying, but it was clear he did not wish to elaborate. 

“Until then that’s just more time to check things off your list.” The elevator doors opened and we stepped off onto our floor. When we reached Bucky’s door, I snaked my arms around his waist and gave him a squeeze. Looking back, Bucky did not return the embrace, but in the moment, I failed to notice. I felt incredibly content. The ale seemed to have worked its way out of my system and I no longer felt tipsy, but I wonder if it had some lasting mood effects. 

We stood there a moment, Bucky totally surprised and me oblivious to his discomfort. I released him with a “good night,” and continued to my apartment. He was still standing by his door when I Iet myself into mine.


End file.
